Elections official: Provisional votes ensured approval of Issue 50

Issue 50, the New Albany-Plain Local School District’s combined bond issue and operating levy request, was approved by 133 votes, according to a local elections official.

Ben Piscitelli, spokesman for the Franklin County Board of Elections, said Issue 50 “gained 46 votes once provisional and absentee votes” were counted.

“It will not be recounted and remains a winner,” he said.

The final count certified by the board of elections Nov. 27 is 4,916 votes for Issue 50 and 4,783 against. The unofficial count released Nov. 6 was 4,736 for and 4,650 against.

Issue 50 included a 2.59-mill bond issue that will generate $45.1 million and a 4.24-mill continuous operating levy that will generate $3.51 million.

According to district officials, the bond issue will pay for a new non-grade specific building for 1,200 students and $11.4 million for site improvements. The levy will prevent a deficit in fiscal year 2015.

Issue 50 will cost property owners $209.24 per year – about $130 for the levy and $79 for the bond issue – per $100,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a home valued at $400,000, for example, would pay about $837 per year in additional property taxes for the bond and levy.